Talespin: Giving the raise to charity doesn't help taxpayers

Last week, at a committee meeting, Troy Deputy Mayor Pete Ryan said he would donate his proposed $5,000 raise to the YMCA.

Not a bad idea and in the spirit of Assemblyman Bob Reilly, who donated his $79,500 salary for the eight years he was in Albany. But, Reilly, who is retiring, couldn't forgo his salary because of some aspect of state law whereas Ryan could just say no to his raise should he so choose just as the other three of Mayor Lou Rosamilia's top appointees who are slated for a bump in pay after a year in office could do.

While donating the $5,000 to the YMCA is a noble idea, it really doesn't help the taxpayers out too much. Actually, it's the taxpayers who will be making the donation. And it will still apply to Ryan's pension.

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The other three have not indicated they would do anything but take the increase.

They are, just to re-cap: Ryan would go from $80,342 to $85,500, Commissioner of Planning Bill Dunne would go from $72,450 to $77,000, Deputy Director of Public Information Mike Fraser would go from $46,075 to $47,075 while the Confidential Assistant to the Mayor Kathleen Ryan-Cassidy would jump from $46,597 to $47,800.

To be fair, when Rosamilia hired the four people the higher salaries are what was agreed to at the time. Thing is, the lower amount was in the budget formulated by the previous administration so that's the salaries that were set and can't be changed without Council approval.

It's unclear what the Council will do as it proceeds with the budget process.

As an aside, it's kind of funny to hear Rosamilia call it a "salary adjustment" rather than a "raise." In 2009, he Ryan and Ryan-Cassidy were three of six candidates for county Legislature who swept the Troy seats in part because they successfully used a $5,000 raise the Republican majority gave the Legislature four years earlier. I don't remember the exact wording on the campaign literature but I'm pretty sure it said "raise" and not "salary adjustment" and I'm also pretty sure it included the phrase "greedy bunch."

Public Safety Commissioner

Talk of a public safety commissioner to oversee the Police Department is again ripping around the city and I'm not sure why since things have quieted down a bit after a violent summer that saw a huge number of murders, stabbings, arsons and other untoward activity.

Two names are out there for what would be a $30,000 a year part time job - former Chief Nick Kaiser and former Deputy Chief Tony Magnetto.

It's going to be interesting to see if the Police Benevolent Association can twist enough arms on the Council -- or otherwise convince enough on the Council -- to pull the trigger. I know a number of them want to but if it does happen there will be an all-out civil war in a Police Department that already has had its share of turmoil.

Odds

A buddy of mine is wagering on the presidential election.

When he placed his bet he put $100 to win $200 on Mitt Romney. Since the three debates - which were just fantastic those odds changed to anyone betting $100 will win $170.

The odds on President Barack Obama were $250 to win $100 and after the debates dropped to betting $220 to win $100.

My buddy doesn't necessarily go through legal channels all the time and I don't know how much he bet -- He didn't tell me and I didn't ask -- but I'm told all the gambling houses are offering about the same odds.